Leslie Gordon named a Fellow of the American Health Information Management Association

Published: November 4, 2013

Leslie L. Gordon

PHOTO: Photo by Owen Kindig

Leslie L. Gordon, MS, RHIA, has been named a fellow of AHIMA, the American Health Information Management Association. She is Associate Professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka Campus, and serves as Program Director of the UAS Health Information Management program. The HIM AAS Degree Program at UAS Sitka is Alaska's only accredited HIM curriculum. Primarily a distance delivered program, it serves students across Alaska as well as throughout the 14 Western University Exchange (WUE) states or wherever they are stationed around the world.

Professor Gordon serves at the state, national and international levels of HIM. She served 4 years on the Alaska State HIM Association Board of Directors and is currently serving on the American Health Information Management Council on Excellence in Education. She is the Chair of the national Curriculum Committee responsible for maintaining state of the art model curricula at all educational levels. Ms Gordon has been teaching for over 10 years and worked in the HIM field for over 15 years. She received a Master of Science in Health Information Management and a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Health Care Informatics from The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota.

The AHIMA Fellowship program recognizes AHIMA members "who made significant and sustained contributions to the profession."

AHIMA states that the purpose of the Fellowship program is to:

Recognize significant and sustained contribution to advancement of the Health Information Management (HIM) discipline through meritorious service, excellence in professional practice, excellence in HIM education, and advancement of the profession through innovation and knowledge sharing.

Provide an incentive for members to contribute to the advancement of the profession.

Bring together senior HIM professionals as an organizational resource for continued promotion and development of the profession through a variety of activities.

Health Information Management might be thought of as the air traffic control system for health care providers. HIM professionals in hospitals, at insurance companies and doctors offices, have a dual role of protecting the privacy and security of patient records, while at the same time keeping those records instantly available for health care providers who may be serving patients anywhere in the world. According to AHIMA, "HIM professionals often serve in bridge roles, connecting clinical, operational, and administrative functions. They affect the quality of patient information and patient care at every touch point in the healthcare delivery cycle." HIM is a high tech field, and is cited by US News as number 4 on its list of nine hot college majors. Career paths can lead to healthcare administration, information technology, and informatics management roles.

Jeffrey Johnston, Campus Director of UAS Sitka, said, "We are proud of the excellence and growth of our HIM program under Leslie's leadership. Our congratulations to her for this well-deserved recognition from her professional peers."